Domino High Revisited
by DragonMaster65
Summary: Back at Domino High with the gang, including Bakura. Based on the first manga or season zero , not duelist. Not focusing on romance, more on friendship and a new person's interaction with the gang, especially Yami. May later include romance.
1. Chapter 1

Domino High, Japan. 8:20 AM. Tuesday, start of fall semester.

Outside the door to the principle's office, a sophomore girl stood anxiously, tugging at her uniform. Unlike at her previous schools, this one's usual orange blazer clashed tremendously with her ice blue locks. Rather than dealing with such the hassle of trying to keep the white alternative spotless each day, she had dared to wear the blue slacks and jacket that was the boys' uniform. Now, her father was trying to reason with the principle, explaining how in their hometown, all the way in upstate New York, this wouldn't have been a problem.

She was Kai Schnook, or as she would now be called, Schnook Kai. This new transition to Japan after her whole life traveling was going to be the same as all the other times she moved from one culture to the next: an all-around-nightmare. Fortunately, this was to be their last move. Hopefully.

The door opened and Kai jerked to face the door as her father and the principle exited. She gave a hopeful grin to her father, who returned with a tired nod and a tiny smile of his own. The principle looked Kai over, as he had before when her father brought her in to register, and sighed. "Well, we knew this was going to happen eventually. Now, it hasn't officially been discussed with the board, but for now Schnook Kai may wear the boys' uniform, so long that it is in proper form." He gave a warm smile to the girl as she gushed thanks.

8:30 AM. Classroom.

"Hey Yuugi," a lanky blonde whispered, "Did'ja here the latest scoop? Turns out we've got another transfer student! They haven't even been to class yet and I hear they've already been to the office because of some trouble. Do you think it's true?" Jonouchi received a smack on the back of his head as Honda walked past to sit down.

"The sensei will be here in moments!" Honda whispered fiercely from his seat, smoothing out the creases in his uniform.

Yuugi laughed at Honda and shrugged at Jonouchi. "It _could_ be true. You never know what will happen. D'you remember what happened when those other transfer students first came here?"

Anzu scoffed, tipping her nose away from the three boys. "I can't believe you haven't asked me. After all, _I've_ heard that--" She was cut off by Honda's frantic smacks to each of their heads as the sensei walked in. She was followed by a blue-haired boy-no, wait- it was a _girl_ _in the boys' uniform_. The girl tried to look docile and respectful, but she was nervous.

"Attention class, this is Schnook Kai. She is a transfer student from America, though she has been all around the world. Please help her settle in to life here, not only in Domino High, but in Japan as well." The girl jerkily bowed and gave a small "pleased to be in your class" to the sensei.

"You may sit next to Mutou Yuugi." She waved vaguely towards the back where Yuugi was, though Kai couldn't tell who it was. She stared nervously around, not sure who this Yuugi was. Jonouchi and Honda both pointed to Yuugi, whose raised hand couldn't be seen past a white haired boy. Kai smiled a bit at this and walked down the aisle to the empty seat next to Yuugi.

When class finished up for lunch, Kai felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning, she saw the brown haired boy from behind her grinning at her. "So you've been all around the world, eh? That must be kind of interesting, no?"

Kai shrugged. She was used to everyone thinking it was the coolest thing, traveling. Well, it wasn't. "I suppose, though I can't say I'm not glad we've finally settled down here in Japan."

She noticed the crazy-haired boy called Yuugi and a lanky blonde shuffling two packs of cards. "Oh! You play Duel Monsters here too?" The blonde nodded, reaching for his deck back.

The kid called Yuugi grinned widely. "I play lots of different games, though Duel Monsters is really popular right now. My grandpa owns a game shop, so I've played games from all over the world."

"Yeah, Yuugi's a real king of games. I haven't seen him lose a game more than one time before he's mastered it," said a brunette girl who looked nearly perfect in her uniform. Kai cringed inside. Why couldn't _she_ look like that, ever? "Look at you all, not even introducing yourselves. I'm Anzu, this," she pointed to the boy who had asked Kai about traveling, "is Honda. You already know Yuugi and that dolt trying to win against Yuugi is Jonouchi. Oh, and Bakura is the white haired kid up there."

Kai glanced around as Anzu introduced each of them and whispered their names under her breath. She hoped that her memory wouldn't fail her and leave her forgetting their names! "I'm Kai, though you probably already know that. My dad worked for I2 (Industrial Illusions, creator of Duel Monsters) for a while, so I have loads of cards. Most of them are in different languages though, so I don't really have a good deck that's all in one language."

She dug through her backpack, pulling out two different stacks of cards. Yuugi and Jonouchi stopped their game to have a look, and Anzu moved closer for a better view. Honda left the group to go talk to Bakura and the Sensei. "Like, I have German, English, French, and Egyptian." She pointed out the different languages, keeping the Egyptian ones in her hand. "These are my most treasured, since I'm at least half Egyptian."

"That's pretty awesome Kai," Jonouchi said, his fingers twitching over a German Summoned Demon card. "D'you have any Japanese cards you want to trade to a novice like me?"

Kai shook her head, "No. I don't even have any Japanese cards yet. I've never even been here before, though my father grew up here."

Yuugi gasped. "No Japanese cards? I'll bet Grandpa can help you get some good ones. You should come over today! Jonouchi and I were going to work on his deck too." He stopped, looking down at his feet. "Unless you've got other things to do."

Kai thought for a moment. She didn't think she needed to get home before her father did, but she wasn't sure. "I _think_ I can," she finally said, giving the nervous kid a grin. "After all, I'm sure my father wouldn't mind me hanging out with a dueling master. Everyone at I2 heard how you beat Kaiba Seto at the Death-T!"

Yuugi blushed fiercely and shuffled his feet. "It wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, not really."

Anzu chuckled and shook her head. "What do you mean, not a big deal? Yuugi, that was a _big deal_. Be proud of yourself, like you grandpa is of you!"

"But Anzu--!" he started, to be cut off by Jonouchi.

"No buts, Yuugi. Be a man for once. _You_ take credit for what you did!" Jonouchi put a meaningful shove in his voice. He didn't know how this Kai girl would take it, but he wasn't about to let Yuugi bring up his secret, especially not in school.

It was Kai's turn to flush. "I'm sorry if I said something wrong, Yuugi. I just meant that my father wouldn't have a problem with it," she explained.

"Oh, okay," Yuugi said, feeling relieved. "It's a date then!"

"Who's going on a date?" Honda asked, returning from the front of the class with Bakura. The other four looked at each other and laughed, Kai more nervously than the others.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or its characters and themes

--

3:30 After School. Kame Game Shop.

A small bell rang as Yuugi pushed open the door to his grandfather's game shop. "Grandpa, I'm home from school!" he cried, he and Jonouchi running in. Kai followed more docilely, glancing around. She stared at the stuffed shelves and counters filled with common games like Duel Monsters and Capsule Monsters, as well as ones that were marked, "Not to be removed without collateral." She bowed respectfully to the old man who was behind the counter.

He looked her over and nodded, as though she had passed some unknown criteria. "Yuugi, my boy, who is this? I know Anzu's not this skinny! Or have her dance classes really been working that well?"

Kai blushed and stuttered, "I am Schnook Kai. I am in Yuugi's class. It is nice to meet Yuugi's grandfather!"

Yuugi nodded. "She's from America, Grandpa! We're trying to help her build up a Japanese Duel Monsters deck." Yuugi's eyes lit up as he remembered something. "Hold on Kai, I'm going to get something from my room." He ran up the back stairs, shouting over his shoulder, "Be right back."

Yuugi's grandpa just shook his head at Yuugi and turned to face Kai. "Did you say Schnook? Are you related to Schnook David, from I2?" Kai shuffled her feet and nodded, biting her lip.

"Yeah. He's my father," she answered. "Did he try to buy you out too? The only people who know Schnook David are usually people who got bought out by I2."

The old man laughed and shook his head. "No silly girl! I was an old friend of his father -your grandfather, I suppose. Is your father still trying to get to the top of the food chain? Haha, even as a little boy, I remember him always being to overachiever." Kai didn't look too reassured as Mr. Motou walked away, reminiscing to himself.

Jonouchi began pawing through the Duel Monsters booster packs laid out in the on the counter. "I got a good feeling today I'm going to get a great card! I just know it!" He flashed a grin at Kai, trying to make her feel more comfortable. The poor girl was nervous as hell, though he didn't have a clue why. She gave him a nervous smile in return and joined him in looking at the cards.

"How do you know you'll get a good card? I mean, isn't the point of the foil wrapper to make sure you _don't_ know what's inside? Tell me its still the same even here in Japan," she said, looking over the packs.

Jonouchi shrugged, selecting three packs from the display. "I seem to have a knack for this game. Anyone could see that I just let Yuugi win."

"Yeah, right Jonouchi," Yuugi laughed, coming back from downstairs. He carried a small gold box and his deck. "If that's so, how can I tell your strategy from a mile away? I think you need to get your head checked out buddy!" He winked jokingly at Kai and then ruffled his hair nervously.

Jonouchi plopped to the ground, opening up one of the packs of cards. "Come on now, gimme something good!" He closed his eyes and ripped off the rest of the foil. Peeking through one eyelid, he stared at the top-most card. Kai looked at it from over his shoulder.

"What'dja get Jonouchi? Another Pot of Greed?" Yuugi questioned, digging through his golden box. Kai shook her head and tried to make out the unfamiliar Japanese characters.

"Is that a Baby Dragon or am I really quite bad at Japanese?" she asked, taking the card out from the pile.

Jonouchi nodded and thumbed through the rest of the pack. "Ah man. I've got these guys already!" As he reached the last card he stopped, then showed it to Kai. "You got any clue what this dude is? I've never heard of a card called Curse of Dragon, have you?"

Kai nodded, thanking her time in Germany -or was it Spain?- that she spent with a dragon card fanatic. "No, I've heard of it. It can be a pretty powerful card. I saw someone win a tournament with that card. It's also useful with a Polymerization card too."

Jonouchi fist-pumped the air. "Alright! Now I'll really kick ass against Yuugi," he exclaimed, dropping the rest of the cards into a pocket. "Now for my other new cards. They'd better be just as good as this one!"

Kai laughed and settled on the ground next to the seated Jonouchi and Yuugi, who was kneeling. He finally stopped rifling through the box to take out a pair of cards. Kai then noticed the hieroglyphics on the golden box. "Did that box hold a puzzle before? I've heard about a rare puzzle in a box just like that that was discovered in a pharaoh's tomb, when we were in Cairo, but I didn't think that it had been solved," she said, frowning at it.

Yuugi laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Um, yeah, it did. My grandpa's friend gave it to him after the expedition because no-one could solve it," he said.

"Yuugi finally solved it after, what, eight years? Of course there's a funny story about that, but we won't get into it now. Its kind of embarrassing, ain't that right Yuugi?" Jonouchi added, looking up from his new cards.

Kai stared at Yuugi for a moment, then at the gold pyramid hanging from around his neck. She pointed at it, asking, "So that's the Millennium Puzzle?"

Yuugi yelped, scooting away from her pointing finger, like it would try to take the puzzle away from him. "How…how did you know its name?" He cradled the puzzle in his free hand, the Duel Monsters cards temporarily forgotten.

Kai put her hand down and smiled at the shaken boy. "We lived in Cairo for over a year, and my father was _very _interested in the archeological find, and the puzzle too, I suppose. He found out the name by contacting a professor over here." Kai frowned, thinking for a moment. "Actually, now that I think about it, once my father talked to him, he lost interest. I didn't care one way or the other, so I didn't question it." She shrugged, letting the subject drop.

Yuugi relaxed, once he realized that Kai wasn't terribly interested in his Millennium Puzzle. He was tired of people always ogling it and wanting to see it. "Oh. Okay then." He looked down and then remembered the two cards he was holding. "Ah! Kai, I want you to have these two cards for your Japanese deck." He handed her the two cards and explained what they were. "This one is Mystical Moon, which boosts your beast cards and effects the tides. An-n-nd this one is Silver Fang, who gets the attack and defense bonus from Mystical Moon."

Kai looked over the cards and read over the Japanese script, familiarizing herself with the cards. "Thanks Yuugi! I've never built a beast-based deck before, but now I have a few ideas," she said. She smiled at Yuugi and snagged a random booster pack from the display case. "Maybe I'll get some good cards in this one too, or I can trade with Jonouchi."

Jonouchi nodded and started to ask Yuugi about spell cards and how to use them. Kai had just settled back into the comfortable niche of Duel Monsters when her cell phone rang. She jumped, then pulled the slim, black phone from her pocket, flipping it open before she even read the number. "Hello father. No, I didn't get any homework today. It's only the first day of-. Oh. Okay. Ye-. I'll get home as soon as I-. No, father! Fine. I'll leave right now. Thanks a lot!" She snapped the phone shut with a huff and a scowl.

Yuugi and Jonouchi watched this exchange with questioning looks. Kai sighed heavily and stood up. "That was my father. I have to go now. Thank you for your hospitality, Yuugi. I'll see you both in school tomorrow, yes?"

The two boys nodded, and waved as Kai walked out, smiling at them. "Bye!" Yuugi called out before the door closed shut. Grandpa Motou came down the stairs, holding a photo album. "Did that nice young girl leave just now? Yuugi, you should have invited her over for dinner!"

"Hey!" Jonouchi called from the floor. "What am I, chopped liver?" Yuugi laughed and shrugged at his grandfather. "Her father called, so she had to leave Grandpa."

"Oh," the old man said, frowning. "Well then invite her and her father over tomorrow. I haven't seen Schnook David in years, so it should be a nice treat. For both of us!"

Yuugi blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, sure I guess."

--

Author's Note:

Thanks to everyone who's watching or reading, especially The keeper of lone wolfs, who was my first! Slowly but surely this will be updated, though not from July 12-18 (Vacation).


	3. Chapter 3

4:30 PM Domino Japan. Schnook Household.

Schnook Kai opened the door to her newest home. Pulling the door closed, she glanced around the strewn and unopened boxes that covered the inside area of their home. Finding her father to not be among them, she walked over to the kitchen -the only clear area of the house- and put her bag down on the counter. "Father, I'm home," she called, turning towards the fridge. A large, square, and vibrant green Post-it was stuck to the freezer door and Kai pulled it off, her craving for a freeze pop somewhat forgotten.

Kai made out the tiny scrawl that was her father's. It read: _Kai, sorry for not telling you this morning. Dinner tonight at Kaiba manor. Wear the dress you bought in Cairo. Maid unpacked it today -in your room. Be ready by five -Kaiba sending car to pick you up. Don't forget to tie back your hair. _Almost an afterthought, there was a small "love you," scribbled on the bottom corner.

Kai sighed, though she was not surprised by her father's brash and insensitive note. There had been many nights when she had either eaten alone or been dragged along to a dinner –the prize daughter of a hard working boss. She was glad that her father had asked her to go home as soon as he had. Getting ready for dinners took longer than he could comprehend, as he often only had to change his suit and run a wet comb through his graying hair.

She however, had to run upstairs and take a shower, cursing when she realized her best brush and comb were still packed in the boxes in her room. She made do with an unused comb of her father's, pulling her hair into a high pony-tail and securing it with a gold hair tie and two scarab beetle clips. Then, she slipped on a sandy, white colored sleeveless dress. It went down to just above the knee and had a slit on the right side up for about three inches –not scandalous, but not plain either.

To go with the Egyptian theme of the scarab beetles, she had bought two different pairs of cuff style bracelets that were quite stylish even though they were only plain gold. One was a thinner band that went around her upper arm and one was thicker that rested perfectly on her upper wrists. As a final accent, she put on her golden collar that her mother had passed down to her before she died of cancer. It, unlike the others, was not plain. On it was the Eye of Horus, which Kai had been obsessed with until she was twelve.

She was just finishing her eye makeup when the phone rang. It was the car, calling to make sure she would be ready to go in ten minutes. Kai politely told the driver that she would only need five minutes, but he only laughed a little and said, "Yes, of course, but that is what they all say, and they all are glad when I show up in ten minutes, not five."

Kai didn't understand what he meant until she was waiting at the door, thinking she was ready. She then spent the next five minutes racing around grabbing things like her cell phone out of her slack's pocket and some money to tip the driver and pay for the bar, if it wasn't an open bar.

Finally, she was ready to go just as a sleek black sports car pulled up to the doorstep and she ran out to meet it. The driver got out and opened the back door and Kai slipped in, careful not to get her dress caught in the door. The driver slipped back into the car and glanced behind the seat at Kai. "Now do you see why I gave you ten minutes to be ready?"

She tried not to blush as she responded, "Yeah, I suppose that you are right, sir. Though you probably have been doing this for far longer than I have." He laughed at that and pulled the car out into traffic, darting through the lines of cars into spaces that Kai wouldn't have dared to try for even one time. He never crashed though, just kept speeding along. They soon left the busy part of the city behind to a quieter section. The homes here were on vast plots of land and looked more to Kai like small museums than houses.

They pulled into a drive that was gated and the driver had to roll down the window to speak with the guard in order for them to be let in. _Kaiba must really be ridiculously rich,_ she thought, _to pay for all of these workers._ She wasn't truly surprised until the driver drove up and opened her door for her. He refused her tip, to which she internally shrugged, tucking it back into her pocket to be used for lunch

With a touch of his hat, the driver left Kai and drove off down a smaller (comparatively so –the driveway they had entered in on was at least two lanes wide) paved path. She turned and walked into the manor, thanking the doorman. Inside there was a bright hall and a grand staircase that was nearly as wide as the room itself. Kai followed the sound of talking and laughing to the next room where all of the guests were milling about and talking. A few tables were scattered about so that people could put down their drinks or sit down for a minute or so.

Kai blinked at the large group of people, not knowing where to begin to look for her father. A footman took her coat and she thanked him with a moderate tip. Crossing her arms, Kai wandered towards the bar, hoping to grab a small soda and sit down to calm her nerves. She didn't like being in such a large group of people that she didn't know, though by now she aught to have been used to it.

She sat down on a barstool next to a young boy who looked to be about ten or eleven. He looked a bit down, though she could tell he was trying not to show it. "Did you get dragged to this too?" she asked, ordering a large soda. She was happy that they had Dr. Pepper and got a tall glass of it.

The boy shook his head, looking at her with bright eyes. "Nope. My big brother's here and I was happy to get to see all of these cool people he works with." His face fell and he kept talking. "But nobody was interested in me, so I've just been sitting here waiting for that Crawford guy to make his big announcement. I'm sure my brother will be around soon too."

"Ah," I replied. "So no one wants to talk to somebody's kid brother, just the big guy himself, eh?" I had encountered situations like that as well, where my father would introduce me to people who didn't take me and my questions seriously.

"Yeah," he sighed.

"Well, they don't know what they are missing from--?" I stopped, waiting to hear what his name was.

"Mokuba," he answered cheerfully.

"From the totally amazing Mokuba," I finished. "I'm Kai." They talked for a little while as Kai sipped on her soda. Mokuba was interesting to talk to –he had grown up playing games with his big brother and was exceptionally good at Capsule Monster Chess. Kai told him about the different places she had visited and a few of the more interesting games she had learned in different countries. Finally, she spotted her father moving about the crowd. She excused herself from her newfound friend and went over to greet him.

"Hello Father," she said in English, relishing in the fact she knew exactly what she was saying. "I'm sorry I didn't see you earlier."

He waved off her apology and introduced her to the rather young looking group of people he was talking to. "It's no bother, Kai. This is Tanya Banks and her group of programmers. They're part of Kaiba Corp's new American branch. Tanya, this is my daughter Kai." He introduced her to a few other people, most of them from Kaiba Corp rather than Industrial Illusions because she already knew most of Crawford' people from other functions. After the whirlwind of hello's and how-are-you's, Kai left her father to seek some solitude at a lone table.

She sat there a moment, collecting her thoughts and stirring her nearly empty drink. She had taken one last final sip of it and was debating on whether or not to go and get a refill –as the bar was an open one- when someone reached from behind her and took her glass, saying, "Let's refill that, shall we?" Kai didn't know what surprised her most: that someone had snuck up on her like that, or that he was speaking English without a single hint of an accent. She had thought she had met all of the English speaking people at the party, either at other functions or that night.

She stood up and turned around, looking at the youth that had snuck up on her. He was tall, about three or four inches taller than she was, and had features similar to someone she had met tonight; someone young. "Oh, um, thank you?" She said, feeling a bit surprised. He turned to a passing waiter and passed the glass off, saying, "A refill for the girl please and one for myself as well." The waiter nodded and went off at once, completely changing course from where he had been heading before with his already full tray of drinks.

The teen looked back at Kai and gestured at the seat she had just vacated. "I didn't mean for you to get up. Can I join you?" he asked, waiting for her nod before he sat in the opposing chair. He had brown hair that wasn't too short or too long. His eyes were a dark blue, almost a dark gray, and he wore a neat black shirt and slacks. This black was sharply accented by a long white coat with no sleeves and silver studs. Lastly, he had a belt buckle that confirmed Kai's suspicions: it was a large K and C, which stood for Kaiba Corp.

"You're Kaiba Seto," Kai said quickly, looking down at her hands. The head of Kaiba Corp, and the host of this event.

He nodded, countering by saying, "And you are Schnook Kai. My brother says you've been a great deal kinder to him this evening than some of my business partners."

She blinked in surprise, figuring out finally that it had been Mokuba who looked like his older brother. "No one ever said you had a younger brother. I mean, no one at Industrial Illusions ever said anything to me when they gushed of Kaiba Corp," She paused for a moment, then continued a bit quieter, "And no one ever said you were as young as me."

This got a laugh out of him. "It's probably jealousy. Being outranked by someone as young as I am certainly wouldn't make them want to mention it."

Kai laughed as well, saying, "This is true. I know I wouldn't want to brag about someone who was better than I was."

The waiter arrived again, giving Kaiba his drink first, and then Kai hers. Kaiba stirred his absently, whereas Kai drank heavily from hers for the first sip, then rolled the glass between her hands. They sat there a moment, not talking, then Kaiba said, "Why are you here, Schnook Kai?"

"Excuse me?" said Kai, pausing her glass-rolling to stare at the company head in surprise.

"Do you know why you are here tonight?" he asked, rephrasing his question and continuing. "Why come to another dinner? I'm sure that you've been to many of these. Why one more?" He took a small sip of the soda, making a pleased sound as he put it back down onto the table.

Kai shrugged, not knowing how to answer. "I'm not sure. I suppose...I suppose even I don't know. I'm too used to just going to argue with Father. What's one more dinner that Father's too dedicated to his job and his reputation to turn down?"

The scorn in her voice was quite visible, but if Kaiba noticed it, he didn't mention it. He frowned, tapping his long fingers on his glass. "So you didn't receive the message that you received your own personal invitation tonight?" He was about to say more, but a waiter approached him, leaning down to whisper in his ear. After a moment, the waiter left and Kaiba excused himself, saying in Japanese, "I would enjoy talking to you about this later, if that's alright, Kai?"

Kai nodded, then stood from the table, feeling a bit more confused than she had been before. It seemed that her whole day was going to be slowly more and more confusing and mysterious. She chalked it up to being in a different country, being the new girl from a different world practically.

Someone was tapping on a glass with a knife and people were quieting down. Kai wound her way through the clusters of people, searching out her father. She spotted him and drew up beside him, giving him a small smile. Up on a small platform that Kai hadn't noticed before were two people, Pegasus J Crawford, head of Industrial Illusions, and Kaiba Seto.

Kaiba looked extremely unpleased at how Crawford was looking incredibly exuberant. He was smiling broadly and stepping up to a microphone that appeared to be shaped like a white dragon's head. Crawford started to speak, jumping back at the microphone's static. "Hello, oh, my, that is a strong microphone. Ahem, Anyways, we, meaning myself and Kaiba here, have a rather exciting announcement to make. As most of you know, we at Industrial Illusions have been working primarily in the United States. Kaiba Corp has just recently opened a new branch in America."

People began clapping softly at that and Crawford clapped as well, at least having the sense to do so away from the microphone. Kaiba clapped as well, though not as enthusiastically as Crawford was. "Yes, yes, it is rather exciting! Ah, but as I was saying, Kaiba Corp opened a new branch in America not to compete with Industrial Illusions but rather to _adjoin_ with Industrial Illusions. With the newest technology for gaming being released by Kaiba Corp, we have decided that it would be best for our two companies to form a new business alliance to work together on projects for the gaming industry." Crawford was beaming around at everyone, looking very much like a kid at Christmas.

Kaiba Seto still had a rather fixed look of mild unpleasantness, as though he had just swallowed a particularly large piece of lemon.

Crawford continued to ramble on about the coalition, saying how it was not a merger and that no jobs would be lost, but that, on the contrary, more jobs were being created and the new project managers for each company were being promoted. "Now here tonight we are announcing the first ring of initial project managers for Project Dual Diplomacy" -the official name for the project, which struck Kai as rather funny as she first thought it was 'Duel Diplomacy' as in Duel Monsters- "starting off with the main coordinator for each company. For Kaiba Corp, Ano Taki. For Industrial Illusions, Schnook David."

Kai clapped along with the rest of the crowd, trying to catch her father's eye as he went to go stand next to Ano Taki. He didn't meet her eyes, instead only giving a small bow to the rest of the crowd, as Ano had done. Kai shrugged it off, _as usual_, she thought. There were a few more names announced as leaders under the project managers, most of which, Kai noticed, were from Kaiba Corp.

Crawford finished with a few more vague, exuberant words about the project and Kai drifted away, checking her cell phone for the time. 9:45. Perfect. There was enough time for her to float about aimlessly for another ten minutes, congratulate her father, and beg off a ride to get home. Before she had gotten out of the car, the driver had told her to get a ride home by asking one of the wait staff to speak with Conrad.

She returned her empty glass to the bar, putting in an appropriate tip in the glass jar and flashing a smile to the cute bartender, though to be honest he looked a year or so too old for her. Kai eyed the different clumps of people that were breaking off now that the announcements had been given. She saw the few familiar faces she had already spoken to but no other recognizable faces popped out at her. Biting her lip, she started to slowly walk about between the small tables and the people.

A short head bobbed in front of her, shorter than even her, and Kai recognized it to be Kaiba Mokuba. "Hello again Mokuba," She greeted him, relieved to be able to speak to someone. The head turned and he flashed a bright smile at the older girl.

"Oh, hi there!" he said, looking much happier than he had before. "My brother's new branch is going to be so _cool_ in combination with Industrial Illusions! He might not like that Crawford guy, but their gaming retail knowledge is really awesome."

Kai laughed, nodding in agreement. "Oh yeah, you don't have to tell me. In New York, Industrial Illusions practically owns Times Square with advertisements."

Mokuba's eyes sprung open. "You've been to Times Square? I keep asking Seto if we can go but, well, he's busy a lot."

Kai shrugged. "It's pretty awesome at first, I mean living in New York was a-_mazing_ but after a while it feels too rushed. I'll bet your brother'll take you there when you least expect it. Wouldn't that be a whole lot greater than you knowing exactly when and for how long you'd be going?"

He shrugged as well. "I guess so." His eyes flashed again and he looked eagerly at Kai. "Hey! Seto said he invited you personally. Do you think you could tell him, I mean, suggest to him that Times Square looks really amazing? I think he's getting tired of hearing it from me, to tell the truth."

Kai perked an eyebrow at the 'personal invitation' but nodded to appease Mokuba. "I guess I could try to slip it in subconsciously. I'm good at that sort of thing." She winked and laughed.

"Awesome!" he cheered, pumping his fist. Kai checked the time again, 9:55, and sighed. "Well, good sir, I bid you adieu. I still have to unpack practically everything from my room so if your dearest brother asks, I went home. I had a lovely time talking to you!" She gave Mokuba one last smile and wove her way over to the main entrance.

After another surprisingly quick ride home, Kai slipped out of her fancy dress and into her sweats, flopping onto her bed. In another instant she was fast asleep, forgetting even to turn out the light.

When Schnook David came into his latest home, he checked in to see that yet again Kai had neglected to shut off her light. He turned it off, pausing a moment in the doorway to watch her quiet, sleeping breaths. After a few seconds he pulled the blanket up over her and kissed her on the top of her head. She rolled over, waking up for just a moment to watch him walk out and close the door quietly behind him. Then, she was back in dreamland.

Author's notes:

Okay, so this is how much of a SILLY PERSON I am. I _just _realized how close Kai is to Kaiba. Wow. Some fan I am ;) That, or I'm like the creeper fan that loves the characters far, _far_ too much. Ah well. Enjoy!

~DragonMaster65


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